TERRY ILOUS – Gypsy Dreams (2017)
Founder of cult ’80s hard rockers XYZ and part of many acts such as Great White, lead singer TERRY ILOUS is releasing today his third solo venture titled “Gypsy Dreams“.
A cover album of classic rock and hard rock favorites with an acoustic and flamenco edge, “Gypsy Dreams” features a really solid cast of L.A. based session musicians including Chris Trujillo (Toto, Black Crowes) on drums/percussion, Al Velasquez (Michael McDonald, Albert Lee) on drums, Jesse Stern (George Clinton, Chad Smith) on bass and many more.
Ilous relocated to Hollywood, California from Lyon, France, in 1986, forming the hard rock band XYZ along with friend and bassist Pat Fontaine. Ilous quickly became a favorite on Sunset Strip scene in the late ’80s before getting signed to Enigma/Capitol.
After selling over 1.5 million records worldwide and touring with artists such as Foreigner and Alice Cooper, Ilous has continued to release albums well into the 2000s, along with film, songwriting and television work, and was chosen as led singer for Great White.
“Gypsy Dreams” is a nine-track salute to classic rock with a twist.
This is not exactly an ‘unplugged’ record as there’s electrics mixed with acoustics, and the guitars are not just ‘nylon-sounding’ sweetness. The flamenco guitarists here are true beasts, and some riffs even feel more potent than through a distortion amp / pedal.
The twist for Ilous is that he has taken such diverse classics such as Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love, Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes, DIO / Black Sabbath’s Heaven And Hell or Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game and given then a an acoustic / flamenco edge to them.
I also enjoyed a lot his take on Def Leppard’s Love bites with a little raspy vocal performance.
Very well done, enjoyable classic songs. Two thumbs up!
1. Whole Lotta Love – (Led Zeppelin)
2. Boys Of Summer – (Don Henley)
3. In Your Eyes – (Peter Gabriel)
4. Long Train Running – (The Doobie Brothers)
5. Wicked Game – (Chris Isaak)
6. Heaven And Hell – (Black Sabbath)
7. Ride Like The Wind – (Christopher Cross)
8. Love Bites – (Def Leppard)
9. Kill The King – (Rainbow)
Terry Ilous – Vocals
Luis Villegas – Flamenco Guitar
Jose Garcia – Flamenco Guitar
Ben Woods – Flamenco Guitar
Mike Paganini – Bass
Jesse Stern – Bass
Chris Trujillo – Drums, Percussion
Al Velasquez – Drums, Percussion
Mike Bennett – Drums, Percussion
Natalie Gelman – Background Vocals
PRE ORDER CD version:
terryilous.com/product/new-release/
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